Thorp Air Command - T18.net

Came into possession of a ground looped T18 last summer, bought it with a partner from the original builder. Bert is getting to his mid eighty's and decided it was too much for him to fix up.

The plane was completed in 1983 and has about 1500 hrs on it so there is a fare bit of freshening up and up dates to be done. The ground loop damage was easy to fix, new gear and a few other parts from Cubes set that right. New wheels and brakes got rid of the original oversized ones and will allow for wheel pants to be added. The O290 has been rebuilt with O320 heads and we have been promised an extra 10 HP on the O290 Deluxe!

Some decisions on what to replace in the panel but the vacuum instruments and venture tube will be gone for sure.

Hope to see some T18s at Airventure this year and talk to you about your planes, ours won't be in the air by then so will be driving down.

Nice work. I'm excited to hear about it flying.

Are you based in Canada or the US? If the US, have you already handled the import paperwork? I was considering buying an Alberta plane, but thanks to Lee, ended up getting one from Las Vegas.

If the airplane isn't flyble, I wonder if you can trailer it across the border, get it ready, then do all the airworthiness and registration work.

Regardless, glad to hear you are bringing this T-18 back. When was the groundloop and how long has it been sitting?

There's a group of Thorp pilots meeting in the SE US this weekend. I was hoping to make it there for a day, but will try to be at Oshkosh instead.

Will you keep a running thread of your work and progress?

Me too. N8786 is a flying project. Removed the vac system and got a 12.5# weight loss. Tweaked a few things up front, mostly aerodynamic and now get a solid 145+ kts from my over pitch prop. That will be fixed at the winter re-hab with new pistons, repitched prop, moving the rudder pedals, elect trim, and some cosmetics and glass.

Rap

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Base: KALX
N8786
SN 929

The aircraft had been ground looped in Feb 2018, nasty crosswind and commercial traffic behind resulted in exiting the runway a little too fast and losing it. Purchased it in August and trailer-ed it out from CYQR to our little air strip CDS2, it's staying in Canada close to where it was built. Nice to have the builder around for advice.

Will post updates as we progress the project.

Fixing up the baffles and installing new seals now.
When test fitting the cowling found the engine is slightly further right at the front now with the new landing gear installed. Checked the engine is square to the engine mount ring and can see no mounting errors so must be a small difference in the new Gear from the original. Added a few washers on the right side engine mounts to bring it back to original position and alignment with the cowling.

That’s interesting. It’s hard to measure, but it should be mounted 3 degrees right. I put a piece of tape on the boot cowl on the centerline and an angle finder on the engine.
Cubes

Going through builder withdrawal, down in California for a few months escaping winter so the best I can do is post an update.
Progress was slowed this summer by a project on my flying aircraft, carb problems on my Subaru powered CH601 prompted me to change to a TBI intake. As always way more work than expected.

The T18 has wheel pants installed for the first time in it's 30 year existence, looks faster just sitting there! Also moved the battery up from behind the seats to the firewall, previous owner had mentioned tail heavy issues when getting low on fuel. New scat hoses installed, sure freshens up the look of the engine compartment. New brake lines run with proper fittings.

Still lots to do but hope to have it ready to fly by summer. My partner in the project is still working away in my absence.

Hi Prairie Flyer,
We don't seem to be too far apart and once I get my machine home and the weather improves we will have to meet. My kids manage the Medevac helicopter and FBO at CYXH ( Medicine Hat) and I inhabit the Southern Colony in Helena, MT. Maybe comparing notes with the two machines will help a bit even if I have an 0-360-A!A.
Speedbird 1. 406-422-5182

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N872DD
200hp Lycoming

Hi Speedbird1
Would love to get together, hope to have our project flying this spring but not sure about cross-boarder flights without an ADS-B. Any good fly fishing around there. Would be another reason to come south.
Had our engine rebuilt in Medicine Hat, your kids probably know Dave From if they manage the FBO.

Getting close to finishing the project and putting the cowling back in place. Somehow the cowling is a bit off center to the engine now. Not really an option to change the cowling without totally rebuilding it. Any thoughts on having the engine not at the full 3 degrees.
Really a mystery why everything doesn't lineup the way it did before the new landing gear install and engine rebuild. The engine mount bolted right onto the new gear with hardly any problem.

Maybe the original builders memories of the spinner being perfectly centered are a bit off.

Could it be a slight difference between the original gear frame and the replacement? It wouldn’t take much.

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Thorp T18
O-320-B3B (160 HP)
68x74 Sterba Propeller

"The joke in aviation is, 'If you want to make a million, you'd better start with £10m.' " -Bruce Dickinson

Could be, the top center engine mount goes to the firewall so that has to be in the original location but the lower ones are on the gear legs.

Got a new crank case with the rebuild but that should all be the same between O290D2's.

So, are you saying the engine is now centered on the plane and the cowling indicates it (the engine) should be more offset right? I wouldn’t worry about that. It may require some rudder trim to fly hands (and feet) off. How about vertically? Is it ok that way? Will the spinner backplate wear on the cowl at all? Confirm the crank flange does not touch anything.
Cubes

Cowling indicates less offset needed. Had to add a few washers to the right side engine mounts to get clearance, have about 1 1/2 degrees right offset now. Vertical is good no interference and good clearance all around the spinner backplate.

Can live with a little added rudder if that's the only down side.

Do me a favor and check the vertical tail. I’m wondering if it is offset. For example, a P51 has its motor mounted zero/zero with respect to the fuselage reference frame. However, the vertical is offset to help compensate for torque. I’m doing the same thing with my racer. Maybe someone did that with your bird.
Cubes